Staffordshire bus service improvement plan
Progress up to April 2023:
Informal discussions were held with all local bus operators at special meetings of the Staffordshire Bus Operator Forum in 2021. It was agreed by all of those present to work towards the creation of an Enhanced Partnership (EP) to meet government requirements regarding the future of bus service provision.
The basis of the EP would be to deliver the aspirations of the Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) that was developed jointly with bus operators and published by 31st October 2021. The County Council’s Cabinet subsequently met on 16 June 2021 and formally approved the decision for the Council to move forward with a BSIP and EP in conjunction with bus operators.
On the 29 October 2021 Staffordshire County Council submitted their £113M Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) to the Department for Transport (DfT). The BSIP document has been developed in line with the National Bus Strategy, and in conjunction with Staffordshire’s bus operators, to reflect the ambitions of the County Council to support local bus operators to make their services more attractive.
Staffordshire, along with many other local authorities were unsuccessful in their bid for a share of the overall government BSIP grant. As a result, the BSIP remains a live document for consideration in any future government funding announcements and is reviewed on an annual basis for continued accuracy of the current situation and detail of future plans should funding be available.
It should be noted that as the Council, in common with the majority of Local Authorities in England, has not been awarded BSIP funding any service improvements and investment will need to come from generating additional revenue from a growth in passenger numbers.
Staffordshire's BSIP document can be viewed below:
What are the next steps?
Once the formal consultation is complete, we will proceed to external consultations with key stakeholders, as specified by the Department for Transport. It is anticipated that the final EP document will be considered by the Cabinet later in the summer for formal adoption.
A draft version of Staffordshire’s EP document can be viewed below: